Miguel is up for five Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, including song of the year. / Timothy Saccenti

by Steve Jones, USA TODAY

by Steve Jones, USA TODAY

R&B singer Miguel says his goal with his second album, the sumptuous Kaleidoscope Dream, was to prove that he was a real artist. His 2010 debut, All I Want Is You, had shown he could craft a hit record, but for its 2012 follow-up, he wanted to create a sound that didn't cling to the usual genre formulas.

Instead, he painted from a broad sonic palette to create a distinctive sound that includes elements of soul, funk, hip-hop, electronica and rock. Critics took notice. So did Grammy voters, who rewarded him with four nominations for the album, including song of the year for lead single Adorn, and a fifth for a collaboration with rapper Wale.

"I wanted to bring in textures of my various influences and blend them in a way that mirrored my life," says Miguel (aka Miguel Jontel Pimentel), 27, via phone from the Netherlands, where he was performing in Rotterdam. "The risk of doing that -especially in the context of what's from R&B music - was intriguing, but it made me a little nervous. I didn't know how people were going to take it."

The Los Angeles native co-produced the album, which has sold 289,000 copies. Most of the album was recorded in New York, which he says gave it an edgier vibe. His raw vocals echo both vintage soul crooners and rock singers.

The album's title is a metaphor for life and all the choices people make.

"Everyone has their own kaleidoscope dream, and it's made up of all of our subconscious thought patterns and sensibilities," he says. "We are painting our reality at every juncture, with every fork in the road, our experiences and what we believe in. This album is my kaleidoscope dream."

While he's happy about all the Grammy nominations, he says he was most surprised by the one Adorn got for song.

"That one seemed the most unlikely," he says. "To even be considered for that, I was like, 'Are you sure?' Not to be a complete skeptic, but it almost seems like the token urban song. But if it were to win, it would be more a win for the creative R&B that people have missed for so long that is now getting more attention, thanks to other artists" such as Frank Ocean and The Weeknd.

Adorn is also nominated for R&B song and performance; Kaleidoscope Dream is up for urban contemporary album. Wale's Lotus Flower Bomb, which features Miguel, is up for rap song.

Miguel has spent most of his life working toward this point. He began singing and dancing when he was 5, and by the time he was a teenager, he was writing songs and producing music. His tastes were influenced by his rock-loving Mexican father and soul-loving African-American mother. He was also swayed by L.A.'s underground hip-hop. Miguel plays guitar and piano ("both very badly") when he's writing.

He signed his first record deal with independent label Black Ice in 2004 and recorded an album that was never released. He moved to Jive Records in 2007 and wrote songs for Usher, Asher Roth and Musiq Soulchild and got a 2011 Grammy R&B-song nomination for co-writing Jaheim's Finding My Way Back. Meanwhile, his album All I Want Is You languished on the shelf for two years because of a breach of contract lawsuit filed by Black Ice. By the time that was resolved, Jive was being absorbed by RCA, and the album wasn't heavily promoted. Still, it gradually built interest and wound up selling more than 400,000 copies.

Miguel will open for Alicia Keys on her Set the World on Fire tour, which kicks off March 7 in Seattle. He has previously toured with Mary J. Blige, Usher and Trey Songz.

"As we are growing, we are learning to adapt to these different crowds," he says. "The cool thing is that we have been able to connect with all these different fan bases."